Wish Me Luck (’Cuz I’m Gonna Need It)

Posted on 12.13.07 in Faith and there are 12 comments.

What are you doing this weekend Kat?
I’m running in a 10k race and also a 1 mile “fun” run with my daughter.

What’s a “fun” run?
An oxymoron.

How far is a 10k?
Hmmm....good question. I think it’s “6 or 7” miles.

Have you ever run “6 or 7” miles before?
Um. Not sure. I think I ran nearly 6 miles a month ago, which, incidentally was also the last time I ran.

Have you ever run “6 or 7” miles in 45 degree rainy weather...uphill?
No.....did you say 45 degrees?

And, um, I’m from South Texas....what’s a “hill?”

What’s your goal?
Originally, I wanted to finish in an hour or less, but since I’ve run less than 3 times in the last 6 weeks and the weather is going to be wet, cold and generally miserable, I’ve lowered my expectations. Now, I just want to finish without “wunning” (doing more walking than running).

Incidentally, do you know where I could find a video of a stay-at-home-mom, quality assurance manager, anesthesiologist and a professional dancer celebrating the holidays dressed as elves and getting their groove on?
Why of course.

UPDATE: I survived. I wrote about the results of the race in the comments.

The Comments:

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FYI - that’s Jimmy, my brother-in-law John, my sister-in-law Diana and me in the video.

And that’s really me dancing.

Ok. Not really.

Good luck with the race.  I haven’t run that far in one setting since high school, though I’ve been on longer hikes.  Hiking is nice because I can take breaks whenever I jolly well please without being passed by 10 billion folks making me feel like the old fart that I am.

BTW: 10 km is “approximately” 6.213712 miles.

MB

Good for you!  I wish you luck!

Enjoy the drizzle.

Does everyone have to do the dancing elves?

Okay, I’m not seeing your results, but congrats on surviving!  Is it really icky in Waco today?  Austin’s sunshine and beautiful.

Thanks everyone!

Well, it was harder than I expected. I missed my hour goal by four minutes but I didn’t walk so I guess I broke even as far as my goals are concerned.

I thought it might be a hilly run, but w-o-w I’ve never run in hills like that. Ok. I’ve never run in hills before...but still. I’m pretty sure that my running wasn’t much faster than a walk at times. It was definitely the hardest run I’ve ever had.

They canceled the kids run because the weather was so bad. My girls were sorely disappointed, but Jimmy and I got a few of the other parents together to do an impromptu race and all the kids had a blast! We also got free passes to the next kid’s race in April.  So it all worked out.

MamasBoy,
I like hiking as well, but there aren’t a lot of safe places to hike around here.

Thanks for the mileage.

Kristin,
Thanks!

Euphrony,
Yes, everyone has to do the dancing elves. Didn’t you get the memo?

Texas In Africa,
Sorry I had to get the kid’s lunch ready before I got a chance to post my comment…

It’s actually nice and sunny now, but this morning it was wet, muddy, windy and cold.

Way to go, Kat!  That is great. 

There was a marathon in Dallas last weekend (I think?) and I was talking to some people last night that ran in it.  So inspiring!  I want to do it too.  I’m thinking it might be a little easier when I’m not nursing quite as often. 

Are you still planning on running in a marathon soon?

Proud of you, Kat!  Half Marathon--here we come!  (We, meaning possibly just you.)

Kat,

To stay in shape to do any run is an effort to be commended. I “used to” run A LOT.  I started running seriously in the summer of 1985.  I was talked into running a corporate challenge called the Executive stampede in Hunt Valley, MD.  A little 6 mile race.  I hadn’t run at all since High School and couldn’t even run a mile, but somehow I was going to run this little 6 mile race with about 100 other fellow company members and 20 or so other companies in about 8 weeks from the decision!  The longest I had run (The Thursday before) was a hilly 3+ mile run.  I was 23 years old and my much younger body finished it in 63 minutes without walking.... and then couldn’t walk at all for about 3 days.

I trained for and ran the Marine corp marathon in 1990, finishing in about 4:42.  Not bad for my first (and only) marathon while nursing a recovering knee.

I am now 50 lbs heavier and a home owner and a father and a college graduate, and all of those small choices along the way, left me missing my “in shape”, healthier body ...  I will be blogging on “the why” I am discovering in my “Focus” blog over at
http://www.harryoffutt.com/focus

Keep it up Kat!  Proud of you!

Great job for a first run in hilly country.  Any chance for a repeat of this experience?

Lisa H,
Well, I don’t have any plans for a full marathon. I just don’t have time to train for one right now. Maybe when all my kids are in school. Right now I’m just training for a half marathon in Austin. It’s in January if you’re interested in running with me.

Psalm8410,
That was a funny comment. Well, if I finish the half marathon, I’ll owe it all to you.

Harry,
I’ve heard about the Marine Corp marathon. That’s supposed to be a really tough one!

I’d love to run a marathon someday, but with three little kids, I just don’t have time for those long runs.

Hey, that’s awesome that you’re blogging. I can’t wait to go check it out.

MamasBoy,
Thanks! I definitely want to do that run again. It was really hard, but also very beautiful - and I loved the challenge.

There’s a marathon/half marathon here called the Bearathon (you know, for the Baylor Bears) and I thought about doing that half marathon instead of the one I’m currently scheduled to run, but I’ve heard that the Bearathon is one of the hardest in Texas because of all the hills....so I think I’ll stick with the relatively easy 3M half marathon.

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